More "Katrina's" To Come

"Katrina" and "Rita" showed us once again that nature is a lot stronger than we are. There is no way to control a hurricane, and all we can do is try to prepare for the worst. Recent events have shown that our government did a poor job of preparing, and we will pay a huge price for their neglect. Government failed to get ahead of the risk by allowing construction in high risk zones, by accepting sub-standard construction of levees, and by failing to have a workable disaster response plan. This was not a "republican" or "democrat" problem - this was a government problem. And there are more "Katrina's" to come, most of which relate to government programs that the representatives of us citizens are failing to control.

While the news media and government are focused on the physical and political cleanup of the hurricanes, disasters loom in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Education. These programs are doomed to fail in their current forms, leaving our society monetarily and sociallybankrupt. But where are our elected officials? They don't want to talk about or deal with these "gorillas in the room".

The current administration has wasted its political capital on a useless war and in pandering to ideological issues like Terry Schaivo's fate and the role of the Ten Commandments. What rubbish! A democrat administration is likely to waste its capital on give-away programs that its radical constituencies demand - programs that fail to reflect economic realities like global competition. Where can we turn for salvation?

It's time for a true third party or independent force to take over, a force that represents the middle of America, a force that puts the hard choices on the table and leads America to choose the medicine it needs. John McCain is the obvious choice to lead this third party, and there are many competent public-spirited citizens who would take positions currently occupied by politial hacks like the late FEMA head. For Vice President, how about Richardson of New Mexico? Let's make a coalition of the capable and replace the corrupt politicians who are sitting on their asses while the future "Katrina's" bear down on us!